About us

Philippe Barriere

Biography

Philippe Barrière has engaged in a wide range of activities in the professional, non-profit and academic realm; on national and international levels; and as an architect, architecture critic, urban planner, associate professor and architecture historian.

Philippe received his degree in architecture from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was granted a scholarship to study at two American graduate programs, at Cranbrook Academy of Art and Cornell University. He received a Master of Sciences in Urban Planning from the Institut d'Urbanisme de Paris, followed by a Master and a Doctorate in Art History at the University Panthéon Sorbonne (Paris). He was engaged in projects in the USA as well as France, Venezuela, the French West Indies, the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Dubai), Palestinian Territories (West Bank), Kenya, England, Canada, Marocco and Tunisia.

He completed his Master’s Degree in architecture at Pratt Institute in New York, where he worked in offices and later started his own design practice. His writings have been widely published in l’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Archi-Cree and other publications; his work and the work of his students has been widely exhibited and published worldwide. He has taught at the New York Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, the University of Texas at Arlington, l’ Université de Montréal, Drury University, the University of Kansas, l’Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture de Paris, l’Ecole d’ Architecture de Université Laval de Québec and l’Université Ibn Khaldoun de Tunis.

In 1990 he started a design firm in New York (Philippe Barriere Studio) which later became Philippe Barriere Collective (PB+Co) (see the Collective Bio).

Philippe was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature (Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lèttres), an honor bestowed on him by the French Ministry of Culture for his contribution and achievements as an architect in the field of architecture.

Firm Mission Statement

“In architecture one is confronted with problems for which one must find solutions. The best architecture is the clearest and most direct solution to the problem.”

Mies van der Rohe

In the face of environmental crisis and globalization architecture is becoming indispensable as an instrument to reconcile man with his (cultural, social and environmental) milieu, by either re-investing in this milieu to mitigate the structural deficiencies and/or by fostering its recovery. Taking this view, architecture is an ongoing experiment that constantly adjusts to contextual needs, implementing the new strategic and innovative interventions necessary to improve on man’s milieu; a process that redefines architecture.

This approach provokes architecture to become a threshold over which or, a ‘channel’ through which to renegotiate the relation between man and nature and a ‘focal point’ for reducing the imbalance between extremes (social and environmental). Architecture becomes second nature, man’s link between human nature, environment and society guaranteeing equilibrium and integrity even in the midst of the crises that transformed them.

Teherefore what drives our specific approach to designing projects are some of the unanswered questions being posed in their environment. These questions force us to better understand our hopes and the need for change, both which must guarantee progress and emancipation. Each project aims to contribute to defining this hope and to avoiding potential constraints by answering them.

The process creates architecture which is built on concepts that are based on the beneficial effects they will have on the built environment. Instead of being part of a problem it represents a part of a solution.

For the critic Joan Ockman the Collective work “ takes on the contradictions of today without being so naïve as to try to surmount them, and without being so cynical as to merely parody them. The work acknowledges that we are what we consume, and it takes responsibility for this. …The name for such an approach to architecture is radical realism. Philippe Barrière is its magician and surgeon.”

Firm Biography

Challenging both theory and practice, the Collective has developed a forward-thinking expertise addressing suburbanization (i.e. ParkUrbia), the Interstate Highway System (i.e. Infrastructure Architecture), social and humanitarian issues such as homelessness, refugee camps and health crises. More recently it has developed the concept of Hybrid Architecture (i.e High-Low Tech) in the Maghreb.

The Collective integrates highly competent specialists and manufacturers early in the design process to develop simple, efficient, practical and highly sophisticated cutting edge solutions. It has developed a long time working relation with the renown engineering and fabrication company like A. Zahner co. and called out aerospace technology manufacture specialists (Beechcraft, Cessna, Boeing) for innovative technical solutions.

State president advisers, international institutions (UNWRA, CTC.. etc), private foundations , NGO, local communities, social entrepreners and private and corporate clients have trusted the collective to provide them with unique solutions ( see projects list below).

The work of the Collective has been widely exhibited and published worldwide in magazines and websites and exhibitions (see publication and exhibition list below). In 2011 the research and the work of the collective were published a book titled Resolution: Repositioning the Relation between Man and Nature by A&J Publishers (English and Chinese). In Octobre 2011 the book was RIBA bokstore bestsellers in the Sustainability, Energy Efficiency and Green Buildings section and later in décembre “le Prix Spécial” from ESA (École Spéciale d’Architecture de Paris).

- In 1990 Philippe Barriere started a design studio in New York City (Philippe Barriere Studio), where he got his firsts commissions among them the live Music Restaurant

- In 1996 the Studio move to various locations in North America to become Philippe Barriere Collective (PB+Co), always in connection with the Paris office until 2014.

The Collective has always benefited from the academic research Philippe Barriere developed within the design studio he taught in various Universities (see biography).

- In 2014 the Collective started officially a new branch with a registration in Tunis with Adnen Ben Tanfous as An Associate Partner, where it was already working since 2012.

The Collective has worked on projects in the USA as well as France, Dubai, Palestinian Territories (West Bank), Kenya, Haiti, England, Canada, Crete, Marocco and Tunisia.

Selected Critics Reviews

The truly beautiful projects are singular augmentations of the landscape, as found and as built. Each adds not simply an architectural supplement but some social enlargement that changes our view of place. Philippe Barriere strides with gentle, elegant, resolution across the field of life, punctuating the environment with moments of brilliant and mysterious precision.

The work …. is visionary. It takes on the contradictions of today without being so naive as to try to surmount them, and without being so cynical as to merely parody them. The work acknowledges that we are what we consume, and it takes responsibility for this. These problems crave resolutions that show intense imagination and allow for delicate healing. The name for such an approach to architecture is radical realism. Philippe Barriere is its magician and surgeon.

- Joan Ockman, historian, critic, educator, former director of the Buell Center for the Study of ‘radical’ American Architecture at Columbia University.

The architecture of Philippe Barriere magically attaches itself to the commonplace: confronting, enlarging and transforming our understanding of the world and ultimately ourselves.

- William Menking, Executive editor, the Architects’ Newspaper.

Philippe has one of the most brilliant intellectual minds I have ever encountered …. . He considers architecture a tool for social, cultural and environmental change. In-depth research and a profound thought process are at the basis of all his work. This results in an exceptional intellectual content and underpins his outstanding accomplishments in architecture.

The projects are lead and brought to a successful conclusion with rigor, precision and intelligence, from the analysis of the conditions of the subject up to the detailed resolution of the project and the elaboration of its graphic representation and aesthetic. This process is impressive.

The Architects Newspaper, Shipping a Vernacular Village Out to Africa, by Gunnar Hand (New York, NY), December 20, 2010. Philippe Barriere and William Zahner fabricate a new village in Kenya's RiftValley.

National and internationnal recognition

Awarded entry after an international selection by the Fondation Symboles for the design of the World Social Center (WSC)) and the urban planning and design of the Square of 14 Janvier and its surroundings, Tunis, Tunisia. May 2012-2013

Awarded entry after an international selection by Planet Art eXchange for the John Lennon Memorial Pavilion “Im-agine”, a Mixed media project for the Penny Lane De-velopment Trust in Penny Park. Liverpool. Dec 2009 - 2011.

“Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature) an honor bestowed by the French Ministry of Culture for contributions and achievements in the field of architecture. France; 2006.

Spencer Art Museum, Hall Center lecture series (Lawrence, KS). February 1998. Part of the Hall Center lecture series: Art & Museums at the End of the Millennium. Lecture 1 included in session II, “Art and Art Museums at the End of the Millennium” and lecture 2 in session III, “New Art Museums at the End of the Millennium”. - Lecture 1: February 17 : Museum as Trophy and Symbol of Death. - Lecture 2: February 24 (With Andrea Norris Dir. of The Spencer Art Museum): From the Getty to the Guggenheim.

University of Kansas, School of Architecture, Alpha Rocai lecture series (Lawrence, KS). April 1997. Form and Function, The Old Dream of Symmetry.

American Culture Association, Architecture & Art session (San Antonio, TX). March 1997. Form and Function in 19th Century American Architectural Discourse.

Resolution (Repositioning the Relation Between Man and Nature); pages 276P-310P; A&J Int Printing and Publishing Co., LTD.(HK) with Tianjin University Press. 2010. The book received le “Prix Spéciale” Automne 2010 from the l’École Spéciale d’Architecture de Paris.